Grading the New Sushi Bar at Lobster Place in Chelsea Market

Lobster Place's uni (sea urchin) was breezy and briny, and got a grade of A-.

As part of the current evolution of Chelsea Market, old tenants are grabbing more space and revamping their premises to provide more opportunities for the sale of prepared food. In this connection, seafood distributor and retail fish store Lobster Place has added a new, narrow restaurant on the side with a separate entrance called Cull & Pistol, and placed several prepared seafood counters on its renovated and expanded retail floor. One such is a sushi bar, as distinguished from the sushi carryout mass-production facility directly behind it. Here the choice morsels are in a small glass refrigerator case, including perhaps seven or eight varieties of fish and crustaceans, to be made into sushi, sashimi, and ceviche, plus other miscellaneous tartares and tatakis. Here are some notes from FiTR's first meal there, in the company of Andrew the Sushi Fanatic, who took a somewhat dimmer view of the fish than we did. Together, we assigned grades to the things we ate.

Whole fish sashimi, in which the filets are skinned, scraped, and deboned, then replaced in the carcass of the fish for a stunning visual effect. The mackerel is fresh as hell, too. A

The $30 regular sushi and maki roll combo is very pretty to look at, but the tuna was not top notch, and the salmon lacking in flavor. C+

At $16, the hamachi ceviche was generously served, though Andrew the Sushi Fanatic observed that the fish itself was rather dull tasting and needed more salt or soy. Still, the dish was redeemed by the tiny shiso leaf and fresh jalapeno. B

Pressed Osaka-style eel sushi (left) and o-toro sushi (right), are two of the single-piece sushi available, at $5 and $8. The sea eel was nearly superb, while the o-toro was adequate, but not distinsguished. B